Another photo Challenge

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According to the paper this is the “World’s Largest Photo Contest”.

Since I entered a few photo contests last year I get invitations to enter photo contests all the time. I seldom do because they all have that “popularity” part and I’ve never been one of the “In Crowd”. I don’t have 1000+ Facebook friends and of the friends I have on Face book probably only about a dozen are active and of those maybe 5 will actually take the time to vote.

In this case my friend Nancy gave me the paper with the details on this contest.

But this contest seems different.  This is a juried contest. In other words there are real judges. They do have a popularity portion but it’s not for the “Grand Prize”. So I figured ..Why Not… so I spent the afternoon submitting photos. I may submit some more..who knows?

Anyway, I have a link that I believe will take you to my contest page. I’ve uploaded 12 photos so far. I think you can vote for one or all or any combination. I would really appreciate your support. It would be fun to win one of these competitions.

http://metrophotochallenge.com/profile/30030/df1f8a74c7e0f508d3de53ebf90e6a6b

Homeward Bound

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After the 100 balloon morning

and a lazy Sunday afternoon, I was rejuvenated and ready for the drive back to Massachusetts. In fact I was so rejuvenated that I decided to take the loooong way home. Instead of going south to Albany and east on the Masspike (home in 3 hours) I decided I wanted to take ride back in time and return home through Vermont. I used to drive back and forth that way all of the time when I first moved to Massachusetts. Of course back then I lived north of Boston so it made sense. Now living south of Boston this is several hours out-of-the-way. Glad it’s a beautiful day.

Sandy did not want me going north on 87 and cutting over on RT 149. She said that road has too many accidents so I put Woodstock Vt. in my GPS and took off from her house. That put me on Rt 4 right away but it wasn’t long before Rt 4 merged with RT 149 so I was on the road she wanted me to avoid anyway.

As I drove through the little villages I reminded myself that I had to come back for a photo trip. Sometimes it seemed that time really had stood still. Silos and barns dotted the landscape while black and white cows grazed peacefully in the rolling pastures. I resisted the urge to stop at every bucolic scene that was unfolding around me and kept on to my goal.

Right over the state line in Vermont I spotted a large farm stand filled with apples.

I picked up a few Cortland apples to munch on. This stand was interesting because each kind of apple had a sign with its lineage. I never knew that my favorite  apple for eating was a cross (hybrid) with the MacIntosh. I like MacIntosh for cooking but they are too tart for my taste for eating. Cortland apples are sweet with a firm but not hard flesh. Red Delicious apples are too hard. I’ve broken teeth on them so I stick with the Cortland. And these were excellent. Makes the ones you get in the grocery stores pale by comparison. If it weren’t so far away I’d be driving back for more right now!

Soon I was passing through Rutland then Woodstock and finally there was the goal up ahead…Queechee Gorge.

This was always a must stop back when I was driving this route. I love the gorge no matter what time of year. Tour busses stop here and let the passengers cross the bridge where they stop and take pictures looking down into the gorge.

I bet there are thousands of identical pictures on hundred of cameras..including mine.

Another popular photo-op but not as common as the shot from the bridge is the shot of the bridge from the gorge.

As you walk the trail down to the bottom of the gorge there are signs that warn of rapidly rising waters because of the Dam upriver.

I took my chances along with a handful of other adventurous souls and picked my way over the rocks out to the center of the gorge to capture the bridge upstream.

Satisfied with my excursion I returned to the top of the gorge where there is a gift shop, public restrooms and a snack bar. I sat at a picnic table to enjoy my lunch then it was back on the road again.

No more stops today.

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From this point on it’s all highway and I was getting homesick for Smokey and the Editor-in Chief (Rocky) . I knew they’d be waiting for me and I still had more than 3 hours left to drive from here. Time to get serious about heading home.

Last Chance

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Friday was too windy, Saturday was a wash out with heavy rains. Only one more chance to get those hot air balloons in the air. I am starting to feel like Goldilocks…one was too hot, one was too cold…will Sunday be “just right?

Two launches are scheduled, a dawn launch at the Warren County Airport billed as “Walter’s Mass Ascension”, a simultaneous flight of 100+ balloons including “The World’s Largest Inflated Petting Zoo” and The closing ceremony at Crandall Park , Glens Falls with a launch of 20+ balloons.

Certainly I wanted the 100+ balloons. Sandy and I headed to bed Saturday with our fingers crossed.

It was early. It was dark. I listened closely. I didn’t hear the pitter pat of rain. I didn’t hear any sounds of wind blowing. A gentle tap on my door let me know that Sandy was up and it was time to rise and shine if we were going to make it to the airport.

Once again the parking pass  allowed us to slip right into the airport and into a parking slot. We joined the throngs of people making their way through the damp, dew covered grass to the airport entrance.

Vendors were open already and breakfast was being served near the hangar. There’s something about the pre-dawn hours that seems to magnify everything from sights to sounds to smells.

We made our way to the same area we’d visited on Friday. There were more balloons spread out now and we could walk among them. There are no restraints or barriers.

The air was cool , skies clear and wonder of wonders…no wind! It wasn’t long before we heard the whoosh of hot gasses and balloons that had been lying flat began to rise from the ground like sleeping giants.

The filling process takes quite a few minutes but then one brightly colored balloon was off and in the air, soon another followed and then they were taking off in bunches.

We saw baskets beneath the balloons and some with only a chair for the operator.

There was a monster/alien balloon and a “United Nations” balloon covered with flags from around the world.

Over near the vendors the “Petting Zoo” was taking shape..a butterfly

a crab…

a rabbit…

and that elusive  birthday cake I wanted to get a picture of but wait…it’s T Rex and it looks like he’s making short work of that cake.

As dawn broke on the eastern horizon the untethered balloons filled the air.

I can see the allure of this sport.

Your spirits soar right along with the balloons.

I wanted to clap my hands and cheer but I had the camera in my hands.

As we walked back to the car we wound through the tethered balloons, up close and personal. And then they began to deflate. The chasers were on the way to catch the untethered balloons and collect them when they land.

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Time for breakfast. We headed to the Golden Corral where we were joined by George and Kelly and the Kids. Patrick and Catherine seemed to be wide awake for such an early hour.

My only plans for the rest of the day? Take a nap! 🙂

Scenic Train to North Creek

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OK I have a confession to make before we get started. I don’t know how scenic this train ride was at all.  Four of us took the trip, my sister, my mother and my aunt…my mom’s sister-in-law. But let me start at the beginning.

Saturday dawned very gray and overcast. The forecast was for rain and we just hoped it would hold off until we got back home in the afternoon. Everyone met at my sister’s house so we could go to the train station together. Lorna, my Aunt, volunteered to drive because she had the biggest car, an SUV.

The train ride starts in Saratoga, NY and ends in North Creek, NY home of Gore Mountain Ski area. Sandy and I were hoping the foliage would be in high gear but we were about a week too early. As it turned out it didn’t matter anyway. I don’t think anyone spent too much time gazing out the windows. We could call our train ride the Reunion Train. Although we occasionally tried to figure out what river or body of water we were passing, most of the trip up and back was playing “catch up” , reminiscing and just plain having fun chatting. On the trip north the seats faced each other so it made conversation amongst the four of us easy.

When we arrived in North Creek there was a bus to take folks to Gore Mountain if you wanted to ride the gondola to the top of the mountain. That idea got vetoed pretty quickly so we had the option of taking a golf cart up the hill to main street or walking up the hill.

We may have been a band of Senior Citizens but we chose to walk.

North Creek seems to be pretty much the main street and that’s it. We strolled along looking in the windows and checking menus. We had arrived about lunch time. There were lots of tempting menus but we finally settled on Marsha’s. It turned out that it was a good choice. There was that Open Faced Hot Turkey sandwich again! This one was most definitely fresh roasted..delicious. If you get to North Creek you have 3 recommendations for Marsha’s Hot Turkey sandwich!

Lunch over we still had about an hour to kill so we crossed the street to visit a gallery that was located next to a Pizza place with the name of “Pete’s Ahh”. Very creative!

The Gallery was beautiful. So many lovely arts and crafts from photo postcards (very similar to what I do) to paintings, glassware, even clothing. All the items in the shop are on consignment and all of the artists are local. I asked because I thought maybe I could put some of my work in there but they shot that idea down quickly (but nicely). I don’t live in the Adirondacks anymore. They’d take my work if I ever move back.

Near the door on the ceiling were some metal things. I didn’t realize they were pipes. Someone asked what they were and the clerk said “rain”. She walked to the wall and threw a switch and sure enough, it began to “rain” . The pipes followed above a “creek” in the floor where goldfish swim. When the pipes are turned on the water drips slowly like a gentle rain. You walk over the bridges to get to different parts of the shop.

As we left the gallery the rain that had been threatening outside began to come down for real so we headed back to the train station. There was a covered deck with benches and chairs so we settled in to wait for the train.

I didn’t take too long before the train arrived and soon it was all aboard for the return trip to Saratoga. This time the seats were more traditional in rows. We could have sat in a row of 3 with one  across the aisle but we chose instead to sit 2 and 2. Sandy and Lorna in the front 2 seats and Mom and me in the 2nd set of seats.

The rain was coming down pretty good now and it was getting very dark for so early in the afternoon. We got back to Saratoga around 6pm and hurried back to Sandy’s so that everyone could scatter to their own homes before the weather got any worse.

Just as Sandy and I were about to address the question of dinner a knock announced the arrival of George and Kelly and the kids. They arrived bearing Pizza..yumm so the question of dinner was solved and I got to enjoy a visit with some more of the family. The 40 balloon “Moon Glow” at the airport was rained out but I had completely forgotten about it anyway.

What a great day with all of the family!